Kioku o Uchikudaka re ta Kako
by Rukuya
Summary: During a mission in Rukongai, a village is attacked and Rukia is abducted. Byakuya later learns of this and sets off without warning to find her, all the while not knowing this will reunite him with a long forgotten child-hood friend who seeks revenge.
1. Chapter 1

_Kioku o Uchikudaka re ta Kako_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia, Senbonzakura/Sode no Shirayuki

* * *

><p>~Chapter One~<p>

"You've been going off a lot lately, you know?"

"I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"I have some business in Rukongai."

"That's really far from here..."

"I'll hurry back."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

–

The dying roar of a hollow echoed throughout the field located near a Rukongai village as Rukia brought her zanpakutou down on it's skull. Once gone, Rukia breathed a sigh and wiped her brow free of sweat. That had been the fifth hollow today in the last forty-minutes by her count.

Who said being a fukutaicho would be easy though?

She knew the missions would become harder, it had actually excited her even. She was finally able to prove she could handle it, and so far it had been going great.

The job wasn't that hard though, she was meant to deal the the hollows that were gathering around the district and then keep watch for about four more hours. In all, the mission would take up around a total of ten hours. She wasn't exactly close to the Seireitei though, so it would take a little over an hour to return.

_'I won't be back until late tonight...'_ She thought with slight regret. _'I wish I could have been able to tell Nii-sama that.'_

After all that had happened the two had begun growing closer to one another. Their dinners together had turned from completely silent to where they actually had decent conversations. They drank tea together and took walks now too. Byakuya had even smiled in her presence occasionally when it was just the two of them. Yes, things were definitely a lot better between them and Rukia had started to cherish the time they spent together more than anything. It made her wonder silently, if Byakuya would be upset with her for not telling him about her mission. Silently, she hoped he wouldn't and that he'd maybe understand. It had been one of the conditions of allowing her to become a fukutaicho. He was meant to be notified of every mission she was assigned.

This time though, there hadn't been anytime to let him know...

Rukia ran a hand through her now shorter hair, "Hopefully he won't be too upset." She muttered quietly.

She jerked suddenly at the sound of the deafening roar from yet another hollow. Grasping her zanpakutou securely in her hands she headed off to slay it.

The middle-sized, mantis-like hollow gave out a threatening cry at Rukia's sudden appearance. It's front claws resembled scythes, along with it's second set of limbs, pincers, which clamped together occasionally as if they were just itching to dig into a soul's flesh.

Rukia looked to the side to see a couple of young children cowering away from the hollow. Using shunpo, she moved to stand between them.

"You two, run and get away. Get away as quickly as you can and you'll be safe." Rukia instructed the two wide-eyed boys without glancing at them.

One of them gave a sniffle and a small nod before taking the sleeve of his trembling friend and ran off with him back towards the district.

The hollow howled angrily and rushed at Rukia. She braced herself before jumping up, dodging the hollow's attack. She turned in mid-air before attempting to bring her zanpakutou down on the hollow. Her eyes widened when the hollow turned and used it's claws to block her sword. Scowling, she jumped back and distanced herself.

_'Seems this one isn't going down without a fight.'_

The hollow rushed forward once more, it's pincers snapping rapidly. Her frown deepened before jumping out of the way but when she turned around to face the hollow it was already rushing back at her.

_'Guess I have no choice.'_ She thought before taking a short breath, "Mai, Sode no Shirayuki!"

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" She commanded, quickly stabbing the ground and performing her shikai's second ability.

The hollow's angry roars were immediately silenced by the blast of ice.

Rukia sighed and sheathed her zanpakutou. _'That one was the most troublesome today.' _She turned and began walking back towards the district, deciding to take a stroll to pass time until she sensed another hollow.

She was happy that her mission was in one of the better districts. She hated going to the ones that reminded her of her childhood. She never spoke about it much at all. The last time she had brought up her past was when she and Byakuya were having a walk together and he had asked if she would tell him about it. She remembered being nothing short of surprised by his question, she hadn't even known he was interested. When she looked at him though, she could see the...desire to know yet also the...fear of what she may tell him. She remembered how they had sat out in the gardens until dark and how Byakuya had listened to every word she said.

She'd admit, it had upset her to talk about it...to be reminded of all that had happened and she could see it had hurt him too...a lot, even though his expression didn't let that show; it had been the emotion she'd seen in his eyes that gave him away. She remembered how he had placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her before telling her that she didn't need to be upset, that she would never have to live a life like that ever again. She remembered what he had told her after that more than anything though.

"_I'll always be there to protect you."_

Rukia smiled at those thoughts, they always made her feel more comforted when she was away. She looked around at her surroundings, noticing how these people were so much nicer to each other.

_'So different from Inuzuri...'_

She looked down when she felt a tug at her sleeve. Standing behind her were the two boys that the hollow had tried to attack. Both of them smiled up at her when she'd taken notice of them.

"Thank you so much for saving us." The smaller boy with light brown hair stated happily, his bright amber eyes shining in admiration.

"It wasn't a problem, I'm just doing my job." Rukia said, returning the smile.

"Was that monster tough?" The taller, blond boy asked curiously.

"Only a little troublesome but it wasn't too much of a problem."

The little one grinned, "You must be really strong then!"

Rukia couldn't help but give a small laugh, "Just doing my best."

The older one now held a determined look, "When I get older I wanna become a shinigami!"

His much smaller friend nodded, "Yeah! Me too! Me too!"

"Well then I wish you two luck." The boys nodded before bidding their farewells and running off, leaving Rukia to continue her stroll.

_'They seem pretty happy. I wonder if it's like that all the time here...'_ She thought, sighing to herself before she continued walking. She couldn't wait to get home and hoped Byakuya wouldn't be asleep by the time she got back so she could te-

_BOOM_

An explosion sounded off in the distance, shaking the ground on which Rukia stood. Her eyes wide, she ran towards the source.

Before she could even react though, several more explosions went off; one so close, the blast forcing her back into one of the buildings before she finally landed face down on the ground.

She slowly tried to lift her head, both it and her body throbbing from the impact. There was smoke and fires wherever she looked now, despite her vision being blurry. She had hit her head hard against that building. As her sight began to fail her, she saw the blurry silhouette of a figure approaching her...but before she could even utter a single word her world turned black.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, there it is. This begins the story of a plot I've actually had in my head for a long...LONG time. A few years now to be a little more exact. This plot came to me when I was having one of my rants...and it ended in me naming all sorts of plots that could be used for a Byakuya film if he were to ever get one. <strong>

**I ended up with two and this one won out by popular vote when I decided I'd attempt writing it.**

**The story's rating is likely to change, because I'll tell you now...there are going to be a lot of...dark aspects to this story.**

**The title can translate a few ways, it's Past Memory Shattered (I was wanting it to be something along the lines of Memory Shattered Past) exactly but it can also mean when the memory was smashed. It's the closest translation available and has the most literal meaning. The reason it's so hard to translate is because to say a memory shatters is English figurative language. So instead of just "SAYING" it, I have to elaborate. That's why it's a longer title**

**I plan to have chapter two up as soon as I get some free time. I'm getting tons and tons of school work along with a year-long project we have to do. So things are pretty stressful. I've already written up to twelve chapters to this and am working on thirteen now. **

**So please, let me know what you think as the story progresses. I'd love to hear if you're enjoying it. Those kinds of reviews always leave me with fresh motivation and sometimes even help me get over writer's block when I have it. **

**Until next time then~**

**Read and Review!**

**NO FLAMING. **


	2. Chapter 2

_Kioku o Uchikudaka re ta Kako_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia, Senbonzakura/Sode no Shirayuki

* * *

><p>~Chapter Two~<p>

Byakuya tapped his fingers impatiently against the wood of his desk as he sat in his at-home office. It was already dark out...

Where was Rukia?

Why wasn't she at home?

Those were the only thoughts running through the captain's mind at the moment. She was usually home waiting up on him...yet now he was the one waiting. He constantly kept his gaze on the clock hanging on the wall and was only growing more frustrated with every passing minute.

She would usually let him know if she would be home late, but he hadn't heard a word from her since this morning. He usually didn't get this frustrated when she wasn't home on time either, but something was just gnawing on him in the back of his mind and causing him to feel that something was off...that something just wasn't right. Letting out a frustrated sigh he stood. He needed to know where Rukia was, and he knew just who to ask.

–

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to mention to you that Rukia was sent on a mission earlier today." Ukitake apologized to Byakuya, who was sitting across from him, in his office.

"A mission?"

The captain of the thirteenth division nodded, "Yes, it was rather sudden so she didn't have time to inform you." He saw Byakuya's eyes narrow slightly at the information. "Don't worry though, it was just a mission in Rukongai in the 246th district, Yokaze. She just had to take care of some of the hollows and then patrol for a couple of hours. She should be back soon so no worries. I'm sure you'll hear from her in the morning since she felt bad about not having the time to tell you."

A short moment of silence passed between the two captains before Byakuya stood.

"I see. I'll be taking my leave then."

Ukitake smiled, "Alright, and once again; sorry for forgetting to tell you about Rukia's mission earlier."

The only reply received was a simple nod from the sixth division captain before he quietly left the thirteenth division.

–

The air was cold and crisp, bringing up a slight breeze, as Byakuya made his way back to the Kuchiki mansion. He did feel a little more at ease now, knowing Rukia was on a mission and would be back soon. He couldn't really explain why he had been so worried about her, then again...he was usually worried about her when she left on missions or put herself in any type of danger. She was strong though, and a fine shinigami that could handle herself.

He mentally shrugged, assuming his constant worry was due to their growing closeness. Lately though, he'd noticed he began worrying about trivial things. He sometimes caught himself worrying about the weather bothering her, if she were cold. When those worries developed though he had no idea, he supposed it'd just happened one day.

Before he knew it he was walking through the front gates of his home, heading straight for his room. _'Should I wait on her?' _A few years ago, Rukia had developed the habit of waiting up on him since he tended to stay out at his division later due to having more work or if he were on a mission himself so they could at least spend some time together to talk or take a walk before it was time to retire for the night. _'No...she wouldn't want me to lose sleep because of her. She would blame herself and feel guilty about it...'_ He shook his head slightly then, thinking about his previous thought. He didn't know what he'd do.

After entering his room he began changing into his night robes, trying to ignore the repetition of his previous thoughts. _'I'm worrying too much...'_

It was a thought he would never admit out loud, no matter how obvious it was at times.

Once dressed, he sat on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Today had seemed to drag so slowly, finally being able to climb into bed felt like a blessing.

–

This wasn't working.

Byakuya had been lying in bed for well over an hour yet he hadn't even been able to fall into a light daze. Turning on his back he brought his eyes to the ceiling. He had always had trouble sleeping, but this was different. By this time he would usually at least be half asleep. Here he lay though, wide awake. Surely Rukia's absence couldn't be affecting him _this_ much? Could it? She had been away from home before for weeks on end sometimes and he had slept fine, and just like those times he knew where she was.

So what was the problem?

He let out a quiet sigh before turning on his side. There was nothing to worry about, Rukia would be back by breakfast and things would continue on as normal. Shutting his eyes, he repeated that thought over and over in his head and finally, after about thirty more minutes of annoying consciousness he began to fall into a slumber; allowing the Head of the Kuchiki Clan at least _some_ rest.

Deep in the back of his mind though, that feeling that something just wasn't right remained.

–

Byakuya sat at the breakfast table the next morning, already dressed and ready to head out to his division for the day as usual. His breakfast remained untouched though as he sat back in his chair.

She was late.

Had her mission been that tiresome? She was normally never late. He knew that she enjoyed their meals and spare time together as much as he did. He stood, almost turning to go fetch her himself until a Hell Butterfly flew in to deliver a message.

There was a Taicho's Meeting. All captains were to report to the meeting hall immediately.

Of course, Byakuya was frustrated by this. It wasn't something he could simply ignore though. Looking behind him, he glanced at the hall that eventually led to their rooms before he left to report to the meeting.

–

On his way to the meeting hall, Byakuya went through his many thoughts.

_'Why hadn't she come to breakfast?'_ He wondered, then he remembered something. _'Come to think of it, I couldn't feel her reiatsu anywhere in the mansion. She hasn't even returned yet...'_

Worry began to fill him once more. If the mission were to have had the possibility of lasting an entire twenty-four hours and maybe more, he could understand. Rukia's mission however wasn't. From what he knew it was only meant to last a few hours...probably around twelve to thirteen hours all together. It wasn't even a very dangerous mission either. The hollows reported to have been near that area were relatively weak. Those shouldn't have been any problem at all for Rukia.

It just wasn't adding up. Her absence didn't make sense.

Once this meeting was over, he swore he was going to find out what was going on.

–

"I have called this meeting to discuss a recent happening in the Soul Society." Yamamoto began, "As of last night; the 246th Rukon District, Yokaze, was attacked."

_To be continued..._

* * *

><p><strong>Short chapter is short...<strong>

**Yes, I made up my own District. We just don't know many of them, and I didn't want to use any of the ones that are known. Yokaze (meaning: Night Wind) is a district located near a large forest that lead to a group of large mountains. Despite this district being located very far away from the Seireitei (therefore it would typicially be not as "nice" as it was stated to be.) this one gets by. It's not the best district obviously but not the worst either, it's more of an in-between one even though from my memory the larger the district number the more "poor" it is. I think I got that right anyway. Lol, but yeah, hopefully we'll learn more districts because I'm honestly not very fond of making up my own. **

**Also, sorry this chapter took a bit to get out despite it being short. Seriously, whoever said Senior Year in high school was easy...LIES. I have never in my life had this much work. My economics class for example...test soon...and I have to work on more test corrections soon (I noticed I failed the last test we had. x ) add in the test corrections with the SAQs out of the book plus the worksheet homework the teacher usually gives...Fuuuuuuu-**

**And this is not even counting homework from other classes.**

**I have two freaking math classes because of when I broke my foot last school year I was out so long I ended up failing the class by two points. TWO POINTS! I was pissed. I even asked when I had broken my foot if I could just sit in the library with a tutor that could at least help me with what they were learning in class, but I was denied immediately. So I ended up sitting at home for weeks with unfinished assignments because I didn't have the knowledge on how to do them.**

**(facepalms)**

**So yeah, things are hectic for me but I'll TRY to have the next chapter out sometime soon. I really hope I can because I really enjoy how this story is coming along.**

**Anyways...**

**Read and Review! It really helps with the motivation, you have no idea~**

**Just remember, NO FLAMING**


	3. Chapter 3

_Kioku o Uchikudaka re ta Kako_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia, Senbonzakura/Sode no Shirayuki

* * *

><p>~Chapter Three~<p>

Had he heard right?

That district...it was the exact one Rukia's mission was in.

Byakuya kept his calm disposition, but on the inside he was shocked, worried, and fearful. He had been so consumed by that news he never even heard what else the Sou-taicho had to say. He never even heard him dismiss the meeting, only being pulled back into reality when Ukitake approached and addressed him.

"Byakuya?"

For a short second, as he was suddenly pulled from his thoughts, his eyes widened before scanning the room. Only he and Ukitake remained other than Yamamoto.

"Is something wrong, Kuchiki-taicho?" Yamamoto asked, seeing that the Sixth Division captain wasn't acting like himself.

Ukitake gave the older man a nod, answering before Byakuya had the chance. "Yes, Kuchiki Rukia was on an assigned mission in the district that was reported to have been attacked. She never returned."

Yamamoto opened an eye at the two remaining captains in the room. "Like I said earlier in the meeting, the report of the incident I received early this morning had said that the entire district had been almost entirely obliterated and there were no shinigami found in that area."

Despite hearing the news earlier, Ukitake still couldn't hide his shock. He looked behind him to look at Byakuya, but to his surprise, Byakuya was no where to be seen.

–

Byakuya rushed toward the district as fast as his skills in shun po could take him. He had left as soon as Yamamoto had finished speaking, not caring that their _might_ be consequences of just leaving like he had. He needed to see, he needed to find Rukia and make sure she was alright. He had promised her he would be there for her. It wasn't something he _ever_ planned on going back on.

Yamamoto had been right. There was practically nothing but debris and rubble left. It was hard to tell there had even been a district in the first place. Slowly, Byakuya walked through the area, looking around at all the damage. There were bodies lying around, a lot of them. He stopped in his tracks though, when he heard something crack beneath his foot. Taking a step back, he looked down.

Ice.

Unmelting, solid ice.

Byakuya felt his heart beat quicken. Was it from Rukia's zanpakutou? Had she been k– no. Byakuya shook his head, banishing those thoughts from his mind. As he continued to take in the damage the area had received, those banished thoughts began to resurface.

He continued searching, looking through the rubble and destroyed buildings. Not leaving anything unturned. After about an hour passed with no results he had began to lose his calm disposition. It wasn't like anyone was around to see him anyway. He was in a state of panic as he continued to look left and right, just trying to find _something_, _anything_ that may give him some kind of answer.

Taking a few steps back, he looked up at the sky. Where was she? What had happened to her? Was she alright? Was she even still alive? It pained him to think of that. To think he may be too late. To think he hadn't been there for her when she had needed him. Slowly, he moved his eyes down to the ground.

Wait...

What was that?

He looked ahead of himself once more, doing a double-take.

No...it couldn't be.

He rushed forward to the object that had caught his attention.

It was...

Lying on the ground was Rukia's zanpakutou, still tucked in its sheath.

Byakuya wasted no time in picking it up to examine it.

Rukia was out there somewhere unarmed. She would never have just left her zanpakutou. He gripped her sword to him as he looked around frantically. One thing he did know for a fact though...

Rukia was still alive. The fact that he had her zanpakutou in his hands proved it.

The question was, was she hurt? Seriously injured? There was no way he could know that without physically seeing her.

"Byakuya, there you are." The familiar voice of the Thirteenth Division Captain called out.

Immediately, Ukitake noticed something wrong. "Were you able to find anything? Any clues?"

Slowly, Byakuya turned to face him, his expression back to its normal impassive state despite how he was truly feeling.

Ukitake let out a small gasp of shock upon noticing Sode no Shirayuki in Byakuya's grasp before becoming serious once more. "I'll get a search squad together and I'll inform the Yamamoto-Soutaicho of this. Maybe we can get the Special Ops to help search for her since she's part of your clan. Because of that and the fact that she's a Fukutaicho makes her disappearance of greater importance."

Byakuya turned away from Ukitake before giving a nod.

Taking that as a sign to leave, Ukitake turned. "Are you coming?"

"I'll head back soon. I want to do some more searching." Byakuya replied impassively.

Ukitake nodded in reply before disappearing, on his way back to the Seireitei.

–

"Kurosaki-kun!" Ichigo turned to see Orihime running to him, a bright smile on her face. "My boss let me have some more leftover bread." She explained as she began walking next to Ichigo on the side of the street. "I was wondering if you wanted some. I can't eat all of it. I would ask Sado-kun and Ishida-kun too but they're both still out of town."

"Sure, I'll take some." Ichigo replied, though he knew he probably wouldn't know what to do with it exactly, the last time she gave him bread it was way too much for him to finish as well. Though, the rest of his family may enjoy it.

"Great." Orihime said happily.

"Oh yeah, I have finished some of the manga you lent me. If you have time you can come over so I can return them."

Orihime almost blushed at the thought of getting to visit Ichigo's home again. "Sure, I'm not busy."

Ichigo gave a small nod as they continued walking.

–

"I'm glad you liked them. Those were some of my favorite ones." Orihime said as she placed the manga Ichigo had returned in her school bag.

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, thanks for letting me borrow them."

"Oh, it was no problem." Orihime couldn't hold back a small laugh as she rubbed the back of her head nervously. "I wonder how Kuchiki-san is doing. It's good that we can all see her and the others again."

Ichigo shrugged before giving a small smile. "She's probably a lot busier than usual now that she's a fukutaicho, I'm sure she's just fine though."

Orihime nodded. "I'm glad she's a fukutaicho now, she's such a hard worker."

After talking a little more on the subject of Rukia and the other shinigami, Orihime and Ichigo said their goodbyes for the day as Orihime left the Kurosaki residence.

Ichigo let out a small sigh. "Well, guess I can get started on that homework."

–

Hours later, Ichigo sat on his bed idly gazing out of his window at the evening sun. After finishing his homework he had had nothing else to do but relax.

"Geez Ichigo, you really need to get out there and do something." Kon said, jumping up onto the bed. "Just sittin' around on your ass all day's boring. Don't you think you should get out there and have some fun? So what if it's getting dark, all normal teenagers are probably at some kickass party right now while you're sitting here doing nothing!"

The teen was becoming more annoyed with every word out of the mod soul's mouth. After a few more insults of how he was being boring, Ichigo grabbed Kon by the face and lifted him to eye level, his expression showing obvious irritation. "Would you just shut the hell up already!"

The pair's bickering continued on and on until the sounds of loud, hard knocks were heard.

"Kurosaki-kun! Kurosaki-kun!" A frantic voice sounded from outside.

Ichigo looked out of his window. "Inoue?"

He got up from bed and quickly made his way down to the front door. Opening it, he looked down at Orihime as she looked up at him, fear showing in her widened eyes. "Inoue? What's up? Something happen?" Ichigo was nothing but serious at this point, concerned for his friend's well being.

"I...I was on my way home from the store after leaving here...but I decided to stop by Urahara-san's shop to say hi, but when I there Urahara-san and Yoruichi-san looked strange so when I asked what was wrong they said something had happened in the Soul Society.

Ichigo's eyes widened slightly. "What happened?"

Orihime's eyes began tearing up as she looked down for a short second before her eyes returned to Ichigo.

"Kuchiki-san's gone missing!"

His eyes widened even more in shock at the sudden news. "What!"

"Nee-san's missing!" Kon exclaimed, his voice muffled by Ichigo's hand as he struggled to get free from his grasp.

Orihime nodded and wiped her eyes. "After I was told that I came straight here to tell you. Oh, what are we going to do? What if something really bad's happened to her!"

Ichigo moved back, allowing Orihime to come in as he dropped Kon on the floor. Orihime watched as he slipped his shoes on.

"Let's go." Ichigo stated, facing Orihime. "I need to know more from Urahara-san."

Orhime nodded before following Ichigo out of the door.

"Hey! Wait up, don't just leave me here!" Kon shouted before following quickly behind the two.

–

"Kuchiki-san was on a mission in Rukongai yesterday." Kisuke explained to the small group consisting of Ichigo, Orihime, Kon, and Yoruichi as they sat at the small round table inside the shop. "It was attacked and this morning the Seireitei received the report that the district had been almost completely destroyed. Kuchiki-san was no where to be found."

"So no one knows anything yet?" Orihime asked worriedly. "They haven't found any clues or anything?"

"Actually, Byakuya was the first one to go looking." Yoruichi answered. "When he got there there were many scattered patches of ice-"

"That has to be from Rukia!" Ichigo cut in. "She must have been fighting whatever attacked that district or she was purposely leaving it as a clue to find her, she may have made a trail or something!"

Yoruichi shook her head. "There was no trail. The ice was scattered about randomly."

Ichigo and Orihime frowned in disappointment at the news.

"Nee-san!" Kon sobbed.

"Byakuya also found her zanpakutou on the ground." Yoruichi continued. "It's currently still in his possession."

The teen's eyes widened again, "We have to go there and help." Ichigo said, the determination to find his friend and help burning his eyes.

Orihime nodded, "Yeah, Kuchiki-san would do the same for us!"

Yoruichi smiled before Kisuke spoke, "Figured you would feel that way. So I went ahead and prepared the Senkaimon. You can leave when you're ready."

Ichigo gave a nod. "Thanks, Urahara-san."

Orihime smiled and thanked him as well.

"I will be accompanying you on this." Yoruichi informed. "There's no telling what might happen out there."

"Yeah! I'm going to-oomph!" Kon was interrupted as Ichigo knocked him back onto the table.

"No way. I need you to take care of my body and family."

Kon simply let out a muffled whine followed by a few curses.

"What about your other friends?" Urahara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They're both out of town and won't be back for another two weeks." Ichigo answered.

"Alright. So I'm assuming you're ready then."

Both of the teenagers nodded, their expressions serious.

"Then let's go!" Urahara proclaimed with a smile.

–

Byakuya sat in his private garden in the Kuchiki Mansion., both Rukia's zanpakutou and his own lying in his lap as he sat with his legs crossed. He needed answers and needed them as soon as possible.

Shutting his eyes, he relaxed himself. If he couldn't ask himself he would get Senbonzakura to talk to Sode no Shirayuki for him. It was his last chance and he had to take it. He wasn't just going to sit around and wait for answers when Rukia was out there unarmed and in danger.

_'I promised I would protect you...' _He thought to himself as he began to concentrate on communicating with his zanpakutou.

After a few short moments, a familiar voice entered his mind.

"_Yes, Master?"_

_To be continued..._

* * *

><p><strong>IT'S BEEN SO LONGGGG. (cries)<strong>

**I missed updating so much, friggin' school...**

**It's almost time for my Christmas vacation though...I just need to survive exams and such.**

**I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter, especially since it took so long to get up. I will DEFINITELY have the next one out sooner. D:**

**Don't beat me with raw fish for taking so long! (cowers) **

**I'm writing out chapter fourteen of this story at the moment, along with writing another fic...but it's not Bleach. XD**

**So yeah, working on two fics at once (though I guess you can count three if you include Shattered Mirage of Broken Dreams. I swear I'll finish uploading that one, but for now I've just lost the motivation to do so. Sorry! :( )**

**Alright, until next time.**

**Bai bai~**

**Read and Review!**

**Just remember, NO FLAMING!**


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